Vampire Legions
by Electrogoth
Summary: A Twilight/Vampire Chronicles crossover. Two species of vampire come face to face. How did it all start, and how will it all end? Set 10 years after Edward and Bella's wedding. AU-ish and pre-Breaking Dawn. ON HIATUS!
1. Encounter

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**A/N: Hello people! This is my first fanfiction...actually, it's my first story ever. The only things I usually write are essays for AP English. This idea popped into my head the other day, and I just had to write it. Enjoy!**

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 1—Encounter**

**Bella's POV**

A glacial wind—at least, what I instinctively knew was a glacial wind—blew through the trees in the distance, causing a few startled birds to take flight. Yet all was completely still and comfortable in the meadow where Edward and I lay, staring up at the mysterious night sky. In the last few years, I had become enthralled with the stars, and it had become a habit of mine to lie in an open field in the arms of my love just to marvel at the sky. I guess that's what happens when you can't—

_Beepbeepbeep_. My watch interrupted my thought process to announce that it was now midnight. Edward, my vampire husband, leaned over, kissed my forehead, and whispered in my ear, "Happy birthday, love."

I still felt strange thinking of this day as my birthday. To the overcast town of Forks, Washington, as well as the rest of the human population, it was my "death day." It was on this day, ten years ago, that Edward and I "died" after being mauled by grizzly bears (a tribute to Emmett) on our honeymoon. We had to disappear off the face of the earth so that we could live in peace as immortal vampires. Alice had fabricated extremely convincing evidence, going to the lengths of shredding my unfashionable clothes and placing the tattered bits alongside numerous hairs from my hairbrush around a bear den. It just goes to show that nothing, even her best friend's "death," will stop Alice from being Alice.

Of course my loving parents, Charlie and Renee, were completely devastated, which in turn broke my heart. I had said my final goodbyes and prepared myself, but it was still hard to know that I had completely torn out and stomped on the hearts of the only two full-blooded humans I ever loved. It was even harder to say goodbye to the only part-human I had ever loved, because even though he knew what was happening to me, I still would never see him again and would have to live with his inherent hatred of me for eternity. Jacob wouldn't even pretend to be happy for me when I told him goodbye; the last memory I have of him is his beautiful face twisted in rage and hatred as he spat at me, "Bye, Bells. I hope you know that no matter how much I want to, and no matter how much of me hates you, I will never be able to stop loving you. The rest of my life will be torture, and it will all be your fault."

Yeah, that was definitely hard to stomach. I cried harder over Jacob Black that day than all the other times I had cried over him combined. I would never be able to stop loving him, either. He had been my ray of sunshine in my personal dark ages; he was there for me when I was at my absolute lowest. In a world where mythical creatures were purely mythical, a world where Jacob wouldn't morph into a wolf and—shudder—Edward would have died of the Spanish influenza in 1918, I could love Jacob Black with all of my being, and we could get married, have children, and grow old and die together. But in the real world, where vampires and werewolves live among us, I belong with Edward Cullen…which brings me back to my birth/death day.

Bella Swan died on that day—human Bella, who blushed, tripped, bled, ate, slept, and dreamt. But, like a phoenix, a new Bella was born out of the old Bella's ashes. Bella Cullen, vampire Bella with superhuman strength, no sleep cycle, a diamond-like exterior, and an insatiable thirst for blood, came into being. So, yes, since my human birthday did not apply anymore, this was now my birthday. And is there any better present than spending eternity with the love of your life? I didn't think so.

Edward waved his hand in front of my face, pulling me out of my reverie. I blinked a couple times (a leftover human habit) and turned to look at Edward. "Well, good morning," he said, smiling my favorite crooked smile. I may have had a snappy comeback ready, but all of my brain functions stopped as I stared into his gorgeous topaz eyes that seemed to be made of both liquid and crystal. Geez, even after all these years, he still dazzled me on a daily basis. He smirked, obviously enjoying the effect he had on me, yet as the seconds ticked by with no awakening of my cognitive functions, he grew more and more impatient. "You know, times like these often make me fear I may truly be driven to insanity by my inability to read your thoughts." I shook my head free of his dazzling gaze and made myself stare at the sky in order to think of a response. "Well it's certainly not my fault that you make me stop thinking entirely," was my lame reply. Even as a vampire I wasn't Edward's equal in the language department. Yet I intuitively knew that he thought my lack of verbosity was cute, just as I knew that right now he was thinking about how much _I_ dazzle _him_. Psh, yeah right.

How did I know this, you ask? Heightened intuition is my vampire power; well, one of them anyway. My other power is the ability to expand the privacy of my mind and share it with those around me, all the while effectively blocking mind-invading powers like Edward's, Jane's, and Aro's. I guess the glitch in my brain was so significant that it caused not one, but two of my defining human qualities to become more acute during my transformation. But hey, I'm not complaining. My intuition was certainly strong as a human, what with knowing almost instantly that Edward was somehow beyond human. My heightened vampire intuition, however, is so much stronger than I could have ever imagined. I intuitively know what people are thinking, what people are feeling, where people are, who people are connected to, and what decisions will produce what outcomes; all of this makes me as strong as Edward, Jasper, Demetri, Marcus, and Alice combined. But wait, there's more! My heightened perception lets me see colors and details that are not visible to the human—or even the vampire—eye. I can see further than any vampire, plus I can see gateways to parallel dimensions and even ghosts and spirits. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

And my other power just makes my new life even cooler. I've learned how to create a sort of mental bubble that I can place around the minds of those around me in order to block other creatures' invasive mental powers; I've honed my skill to the point that I can place a bubble around all of my family members without straining myself too much. There is a side effect, however; the mental bubbles not only cancel out mind-invading powers that can be used on a person, but also any mind-invading powers that a person has. I'm sure that this would really aggravate some people, but my family sees it as a release from the inconveniences of a certain someone's mind-reading power. Edward loves having time away from the somewhat invasive thoughts of our family, and everyone else loves having some privacy in their minds.

So, according to Carlisle, my two abilities make me the most powerful vampire in existence. No pressure, right?

Luckily, the Volturi seem to think otherwise. We figured that as soon as they checked in on us (which actually happened only a week after I was changed), they would be prepared to use any and all forces necessary to make me a part of the Volturi Guard. But all Aro, Caius, and Marcus did was ask me for a couple demonstrations of my powers, congratulate Edward and I on our marriage, and leave. My intuition told me that they were genuinely pleased for us as a couple and for our entire family, and that they did not want to break up such a union. Good news for us.

My watch beeped again. _That's strange_, I thought, _didn't it just beep five minutes ago?_ I brought my arm up to my face so I could see the time. _Holy crow, it's 1:00 already!_ I had been thinking and reflecting for an hour straight. Time really does fly when you live forever. _Poor Edward, he must be dying of curiosity over what I've been thinking about._ I sheepishly turned on my side and propped up on my elbow so I could look at Edward. He was already looking at me, and probably had been for the last hour. Gosh, now I was embarrassed; thank goodness I couldn't blush anymore, or I would be beet red. I opened my mouth to apologize for zoning out for an hour, but before I could utter one syllable, Edward said, "You don't have to tell me what you were thinking about. It was obviously something very intricate and personal, to have taken an entire hour. Even though I often want to tear my hair out in frustration over not knowing what you're thinking, I respect the privacy of your mind and want to give you as much personal time and space as you need."

"That's sweet of you, Edward," I told him, "but I honestly don't mind telling you what I'm thinking. I guess I was just reflecting over my change and my—" I stopped midsentence as my entire body stiffened and went on alert; I could sense something moving toward us, and fast. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, as I would be able to tell whether it was a member of our family, an animal, or a human hiker. But this time, I had no clue what it was, and that scared me. It could be anything. It could be capable of anything. Something was running towards us, and we had no way to prepare.

"—powers." I finished my previous sentence with only a split-second's hesitation, so that whoever—or whatever—was coming towards us would not sense anything amiss. The key to confronting this…thing…was to act completely normal. That way, whatever it was would not now that we were on to it, and we would have the element of surprise on our side. However, my split-second's hesitation, plus my stiffening, immediately sent alarm bells ringing through Edward's head. He pulled me in for a tight embrace, taking my cue to act normal, but whispered so that only I could hear, "What is wrong? What did you sense?"

"Something's coming towards us fast," I whispered back, "but I have no clue what it is. It's not one of us, and not animal or human." This sent Edward into full-panic mode. "Which direction?" he asked. "Two hundred yards to the west and closing, but it's slowed to a normal human pace. It probably caught our scent." Edward shifted our embrace so that he was between me and whatever was coming. He kissed me hard and passionately, sending chills up and down my spine, but I didn't need my power to sense the edge in his kiss. It was the same edge that was there when we figured out that vengeful Victoria was coming after me and had sent someone into 

my house, into my room. It was an edge that said we might not have much time left. I whispered to him, "One hundred yards and closing." He broke the kiss, but started trailing them up and down the side of my neck. To any bystander, including whatever was coming for us, we just looked like two teenagers making out, when in reality we were preparing ourselves to face and probably fight our attacker. When Edward's kisses reached my ear, he said breathlessly, "No matter what happens right now, I love you and I always will." "I love you too, Edward," I whispered back. "Ten seconds." He kept kissing my neck, but pulled us off the ground so we were standing and more prepared. I grabbed his face and crashed my lips to his. I pulled away, whispered "Three…" and kissed him again. "Two…" Another kiss. "One."

At that moment, two things happened simultaneously. Edward whirled around so that he was facing west and took up a defensive crouch around me, snarls ripping from his chest like a caged animal. I felt myself thinking about how hot he was when he was in full-on defense mode—_yeah, great job Bella. You're life, or even Edward's life, might be ending right now, and all you can think about is how hot he is._

I had no time for other thoughts like that, though, because at that moment a tall, human figure strolled into view and stopped just before emerging the tree line. Had the figure come any closer, Edward would have immediately attacked. The figure's face was hidden from view among the trees, and even my enhanced eyesight could not penetrate the darkness around the figure's face. From my position behind Edward I could only tell that it was tall and lanky, yet had toned muscles that would not be visible to the human eye unless they were close. The figure was obviously a man, and his body actually reminded me very much of Edward's. He was also wearing clothes that spoke of elegance and money, yet had a flair that spoke of the American and French Revolutions. He stayed very still, obviously knowing that any sudden movement would earn an attack from Edward. The man very slowly raised his hands into the universal "Calm down, I mean no harm" gesture. I touched Edward's back, and he responded by calming down a little—and by "calming down a little," I mean the snarls ripped from his throat with less force and less frequency. They soon became mere growls.

I pulled Edward back a step with me and said to the man in the shadows, "Who are you? Show yourself." The man, keeping his hands up, took a step forward that matched the length of the one Edward and I had taken backward, so that we still remained the same distance apart. I could tell that this guy had had his share of fighting before, and knew how to handle himself when he did not want a fight. I whispered to Edward, "He does not want to fight." Edward stopped growling and slightly relaxed his defensive crouch, but he still stayed alert and ready to spring.

Now that there was less of a chance that a fight would ensue, I allowed myself to inspect the man in front of me. He had blonde hair that fell in waves to his shoulders—very beautiful hair, really. In fact, every aspect of him was beautiful. His face was extremely handsome, his eyes were a strange blue-grey color, and I could sense that he had a very confident-on-the-verge-of-cocky demeanor, but he appreciated beauty as well as humanity. But that was all that my power let me see—it was like there was a wall up in the man's mind. This must have affected Edward, too, because it was obvious that he could not read the man's thoughts whatsoever.

I could feel myself being pulled to this mysterious man, but I remained on alert because this was no species of man that I had ever encountered—he was not human, although his features were, and he was not a vampire or a werewolf. He may have been a ghost, but I cast that theory out right away, since Edward could see him.

The man opened his perfectly-formed lips and said, "I was born Lestat de Lioncourt. I am 256 years old, and I live off the blood of mortal humans. I am the Vampire Lestat."

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	2. Encounter LPOV

**A/N: Thanks to Freakk66, Master of the Boot, fishey6478, and ocmamii1992 for the reviews and alerts! Hope you enjoy the second chapter!**

**P.S. I realized I forgot to put a disclaimer for the first chapter. So this disclaimer will count for the whole story: SINCE THIS IS A FANFICTION SITE, I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES. Times infinity.**

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**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 2—Encounter**

**Lestat's POV**

Ah, France! What a glorious country! The history, the culture, the scenery! No one, not even the French, knew all of the wonders that France held. One could step out of a beatnik coffee shop in Paris and run into an ancient and beautifully crafted museum, or walk out of a castle ruin in Auvergne just to stumble into a deep and dangerous wilderness! In fact, it was at the edge of this wilderness, the forest and mountains just outside my boyhood home, that I stood, breathing in the brisk forest air.

I had come to France to search for my mother, Gabrielle. I yearned for her presence, for her wit and curiosity about the world. Not only did I crave having every bit of her by my side, but I also wanted to make sure she was alive and well, physically and mentally. She had always been an exceedingly independent woman, a natural roamer, and could take care of herself; but I had not seen her since she helped me and the other Children of the Millennia defeat Akasha, and even then I did not get a chance to inquire into her well-being and learn the tales of her 200 years of traveling. To be frank, I missed my mother. Yes, I, the Vampire Lestat, the Brat Prince himself, missed my mom. So, I traveled to France, intending to begin my search in the country where our lives intertwined the most. It would also be nice to visit the places of my past and reminisce.

However, something larger than the search for my mother and my nostalgia brought me to France. I felt myself pulled to it, pulled to the edge of the woods where I killed the wolves as a mortal all those years ago, pulled to the trees under which I was now standing. It was as if something was calling me, as if France itself was calling to me, begging me to come to this very spot.

But why? Oh, yes, I had pondered over that question ceaselessly on my way to France. Why was I being drawn there? Who—or what—was calling me? Was it my mother, or something more sinister? What would I find? Perhaps some ancient magic? An evil force? Or just some trees and wolves? I did not know the answers to any of these questions.

But did that matter? Of course not! I was the Vampire Lestat! I could go where I wanted, when I wanted, and for whatever reason I saw fit. I was simply going to France to reminisce about my good ole' human days and, hopefully, find my mother. So, with this in mind, I broke into a sprint and dashed into the forest.

Oh, the exhilaration of preternatural speed! After all my adventures over the last few decades, what with defeating Akasha, switching bodies to become mortal, and traveling to Heaven, Hell, and back, I had nearly forgotten how thrilling and relaxing just _running_ could be. The sheer freedom of it! To just forget your worries, your obligations, your fears, to just leave yourself behind and _run_!

But, in an instant, everything changed after I took in a whiff of the cool night air that was blowing from the east. I stopped running so suddenly that I fell flat on my face—not an easy thing for a vampire to do, I assure you. But that did not matter to me. My entire being, my thoughts and fears and desires, came crashing down on me instantaneously, and a split second later my brain retched it all out like vomit. The air molecules I had breathed in utterly consumed me, for they carried on them a scent that I had never come across in all of my 256 years of existence. There was nothing repulsive about the scent, nor was it delectable. It was just…different. No, "different" is too mild a word. It was…foreign…_alien_. Yes, "alien" was the right sensation. A flood of emotions overtook my reason: curiosity, anxiety, anger, _fear_—a fear like I had never felt before—all centered around this alien scent on the wind. I was drawn to it, yet every fiber of my being told me to run in the opposite direction. _You don't want any part in…whatever this is, _my instinct told me. _Whatever is out there, it is not human, it is not animal, it is not vampire, and it is not any being from Heaven or Hell. You have no control over it, you have no idea what it is capable of. Just run!_ But I couldn't run. My mind rooted my feet to the spot, ordering me to not be a coward, reminding me how drawn I felt to the source of this scent. And, in the end, my curiosity won.

I started walking at a normal human pace towards the east. I cast out with the Mind Gift, trying to determine anything at all about this _thing_. After an entire minute of silence, it finally hit me: _this alien source is impervious to the Mind Gift_. I had never come across anything that the Mind Gift could not penetrate, except, of course, inanimate objects and plants. Was that what this was? Some species of plant or an object from another planet?

I could see that I was approaching a clearing. _That must be where this smell is coming from_, I thought. _Just a few more steps and I will be able to see through this dark forest into the moonlit clearing_. Three, two, one…

As the clearing came into view, I had to stifle a laugh. The only inhabitants were two teenagers in a loving embrace! But there was no mistaking the scent that was wafting from them. How could mere love-struck teenagers produce this alien smell? I kept walking toward the clearing, as it was obvious that they had no clue I was here. But, as I stopped directly at the edge of the clearing, that suspicion was proved wrong.

At the exact moment that I stopped walking toward the couple, the young man, who was the closest to me, turned around with inhuman speed and took up a defensive crouch around the girl. He was snarling like a maniac, and it was obvious that one more step on my part would send him into a frenzy. The girl looked scared, but was standing strong and holding her ground. They couldn't have been older than 17 or 18, yet both possessed an ethereal beauty that was beyond their years. Their skin was pale—very much like my own—and their eyes were pitch black. The girl's long brown hair was flowing in the wind, and the boy's tousled bronze hair looked like it was always windswept. They were obviously both human—on the exterior, at least. The strange scent still emanated from them, so I knew that there had to be something alien about them. I could have bolted then and there, perhaps even used the Cloud Gift to escape; there would be no way that either of them could catch me. But I was drawn to them. I had come this far; I had to know who, and what, they were. So, instead of running, I very slowly raised my hands into a 

defensive position. The girl understood that I meant no harm; she softly touched the young man's back, and he responded by and softening his growls.

The couple took a step back together, and the girl said in a strong and beautiful voice, "Who are you? Show yourself." I kept my hands up and did as she asked, taking a step into the clearing that matched the length of the stride they had taken backward. Surely, now that I was in full view, they would see that I was inhuman and would run for their lives. Yet that strange aroma wafted into my nostrils and I remembered that this couple was possibly as or even more inhuman than I. The young woman whispered something to her lover, and he stopped growling and relaxed his crouch. They both took me in, and they certainly seemed puzzled and curious, but not as afraid as they were moments earlier. They stared at me, yet each gaze held a different meaning. The girl seemed pulled in to me—as she should be—and gazed at me in wide-eyed wonder. The boy, on the other hand, concentrated intensely on me, as if he thought my mind would split open under the pressure of his gaze and he would be able to fully know who I was. I felt extremely violated under his stare, and was immensely happy that over the years I had built up a wall in my mind to prevent others from using the Mind Gift to get inside my head. Speaking of the Mind Gift, why wasn't mine working on this couple? Each moment my suspense grew. Who were these teenagers?

I figured that they wouldn't reveal their identities until I revealed mine. Well, I had revealed my identity and those of my vampire cohorts to the world at large a couple decades ago; what was the harm in telling a couple kids? So, I took the plunge and said, "I was born Lestat de Lioncourt. I am 256 years old, and I live off the blood of mortal humans. I am the Vampire Lestat."


	3. Denial

**A/N: Hello again! Thanks to Freakk66, Master of the Boot, Alyannara2763, i.run.with.cullens, the indifferent child of the earth, and sweet12 for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! You are awesome possums! Also, muchas gracias to all you silent readers out there. My story has 69 hits already! w00tage. I appreciate any feedback that anyone can give me. Since this is my first story ever, I would really like to know how my writing style is and what I can do to improve. Thanks again! Enjoy chapter 3!**

**P.S. I was in a writing frenzy last night and wrote a lot more than this, but this was the only good stopping place I could find. So, bad news is this chapter is a bit shorter than the first two. Good news is chapter 4 is mostly written already, so I can update quicker! Yays!**

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"_I was born Lestat de Lioncourt. I am 256 years old, and I live off the blood of mortal humans. I am the Vampire Lestat."_

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 3—Denial**

**Edward's POV**

I stared at the man in front of me in puzzlement. But before long my puzzlement turned to anger.

_What?! Did this creature really just call himself a vampire?! _I thought bitterly. _But that is completely absurd! I am a vampire. Bella is a vampire. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper—vampires. This Lestat character is NOT a vampire!_

It took me a few seconds to realize how unnecessary my anger was. Lestat was not a vampire, but I didn't have to be so furious that he had called himself one. He was just trying to hide whatever he truly was and told us a lie that, if we were normal humans, we might have believed. There was no need for me to overreact.

But there was still the fact that this man was _different_—not human, not a werewolf, and not a vampire. What on Earth _was_ he? A wizard, perhaps? A ghost? The Devil? Whatever he was, getting angry at him would not be a normal human's reaction. What would the reaction be, then? Skepticism that turns quickly to belief and then fear? If Bella and I were going to keep up our façade of normalcy, we would have to react accordingly.

As if on cue, Bella lightheartedly said, "Psh, a vampire? Sure, sure." She forced out a laugh, but it did not reach anywhere near her eyes. "Where's your buddy The Wolf Man? Is he back at the Monster Mash?" She laughed again, a kind of hysterical laugh that was a result of the tension of the situation.

"I assure you, young lady, that I am being dead serious—if you'll excuse the pun," Lestat said. He laughed as well, but not the tension-ridden laugh that Bella had barked out. No, Lestat's laugh was full of confidence and certainty. He must have told this lie numerous times, for no strain showed on his face or in his demeanor. "I was born right here, just outside this forest, in the year 1760. When I was twenty years old, I was kidnapped out of my window in the middle of the night and taken to a tower where my captor, Magnus, turned me into a vampire and then destroyed himself. I have been roaming the Earth as a Child of Darkness ever since." He smiled, and it was then that Bella and I saw them: fangs, elongated canine teeth, a feature associated with vampires in all of the ancient legends and modern tales.

_So what if he has fangs?_ I asked myself. _They're obviously fake. _Real _vampires don't have fangs._

Lestat could tell that his teeth did not convince us. In response, he took a half-step back so that he was immediately in front of the tree line, took hold of one of the large trees next to him, and ripped it out of the ground. He held the tree, which was at least twelve feet tall and three feet in diameter, above his head for a few seconds, and then threw it. Ten seconds later, we heard a dull _thud_. Lestat took off running at a speed that rivaled even my own, and was back shortly, holding the tree above his head. He calmly put the tree back in the ground and smiled at us.

_Okay,_ I thought, _he has superhuman strength like us. But that still doesn't make him a vampire_.

After looking at us for a brief moment, Lestat said, "I have fangs that pierce the skin of mortal humans, allowing me to drink their blood. I have preternatural speed and strength. My wounds heal much faster than those of any mortal being. Most of my kind are reduced to ashes when exposed to the sun, but I merely turn a lovely tan color. The only way I can truly die is if my body is completely reduced to ashes in a fire. I roam the world at night and sleep in a coffin during the day. I can't turn into a bat and am not affected by crosses, holy water, or garlic, but those are just myths anyway. I am a vampire, one of the most powerful in existence."

Why was he telling us all of this? Was he trying to scare us off? I didn't think so. It definitely did not seem like he was trying to come off as scary, or if he was, he needed a lot more practice. No, it seemed more like he was…showing off. But why was he showing off for us? Jealousy flared in me as I thought, _Maybe he's showing off for Bella_. I quickly realized that that idea was absurd, since Lestat had been looking at me just as much as he had been looking at Bella. Yet I couldn't know for sure, since I could not read his thoughts. That was something else that made him different, even from Bella. With Bella, it was as if she was not there at all. But with Lestat, it was obvious to me that he was there, that I could reach into his mind, but there was a mental wall there that shut me out.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Bella asked Lestat, "What are you doing here?" "I was searching for my mother," was his reply. "I already told you that this is where I grew up. What I did not tell you is that, shortly after I was given the Dark Gift, as we call it, I gave it to my mother Gabrielle. After a few years, we wandered our separate ways, and I just saw her for the first time in over 200 years a couple decades ago. I have wanted to find her again and spend time with her, but I have not gotten the chance to do so until now. Since this was where both she and I lived in our mortal years, I decided to begin my search for her here." Lestat hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "But there was more that brought me here. I was drawn here, drawn to this forest. It was as if an unseen force was pulling me, begging me to come here." His eyes cast about, his face unsure; he seemed frustrated that he could not completely convey to us what this force was, what it felt like.

His eyes returned to us, and suddenly the floodgate was opened. A torrential downpour of a thousand mental images, thoughts, emotions, and sensations rushed into my brain. Whatever had been keeping Lestat's thoughts from me was now gone. Wave after wave hit me with such force that I was thrown backward into Bella's arms. I saw a castle covered in snow, a pack of hungry wolves, a beautiful woman in men's clothing. I felt that pulling sensation that Lestat had described, plus his shock, curiosity, and fear at finding Bella and I. I saw an Egyptian king and queen, I saw a little girl with deathly pale skin and fangs get burned alive by the sun's rays, I saw coffins, I saw every single human that Lestat had ever drank blood from. In an instant I knew that Lestat was telling the truth, that he was well over 200 years old, that he was a vampire. _But how can both he and I be vampires if we are so different? _But I had no time to ponder that question as another onslaught of thoughts brought me under. I saw memories of Paris, New Orleans, rock concerts, and…was that Heaven?...and Hell? I saw God talking with Lestat, asking him to be his helper. _Then Carlisle must be right_, my own thoughts interjected those of Lestat. _If God can accept Lestat, even ask for his help, then there is still hope for our souls. Perhaps we are not damned at all!_

All of these memories and sensations came and went in the time that it took for me to fall backward into Bella. The mental wall abruptly went back up.

Bella began to ask, "Edward, wha—"

"He's telling the truth," I interrupted. "All of it, everything about being a vampire, about sleeping in a coffin, about looking for his mother, about being drawn here—it's all true." I looked up into Lestat's confused face. What I was going to say next would completely reveal Bella and I for what we were, but what did that matter anymore? Lestat had taken the plunge by letting his nature be known to us, so shouldn't we show him the same courtesy? "I saw it in his thoughts," I said.

Lestat immediately broke into a smile. "I _knew_ it!" he gleefully yelled, jumping up and down. "I _knew_ you weren't just normal teenagers! Yes! Score one for Lestat!"

"But, Edward," Bella pleaded, "how can he be a va—"

"What happened?" I asked Lestat. _Sorry, Bella, but there are more pressing matters at hand than the differences between us and Lestat_. "Since we were first alerted to your presence there has been a mental wall up in your mind, blocking me from your thoughts. But all of a sudden that wall came down, and just as suddenly went back up, but not before a thousand different thoughts, emotions, and memories crashed into me. What did you do?"

"I have perfected the art of keeping my mind away from prying eyes, since everyone of my kind can read the thoughts of humans and other vampires. I will often let my wall down for my friends to allow them a better look into what I am telling them or describing for them. I just felt so frustrated that I couldn't correctly convey that pulling sensation that brought me here, that I momentarily forgot that you aren't vampires and I let my wall down, willing you to see and feel what I saw and felt. And it worked. You aren't vampires; you weren't five minutes ago and you won't be five minutes from now. But you are different…there's something about you that is _alien_. You could read my thoughts, even though I could not read yours; you knew I was coming when I have had 250 years of practice moving with the utmost stealth; both of you are inhumanly pale and beautiful, with gorgeous topaz eyes; and you smell like nothing I have ever smelled before, something otherworldly. I have told you what I am, what I can do, why I am here. Now I believe it is your turn. Let's start off with your names, shall we?" Lestat took up a smug stance, and gestured for us to go on.

"I am Edward Cullen," I said, "and this is my wife Bella. You are right about everything, but there is one crucial detail that you have wrong. We are, in fact, vampires."


	4. Explanation

**A/N: Thank you dazze1ed, brown eyed vamp, Master of the Boot, Alyannara2763, Freakk66, and thepoisonpages for the reviews, alerts, and favs! And everyone else who contributed to the 153 hits my story's had so far!**

**Breaking Dawn comes out in a couple days (YAYS!!), and I know that there will be a LOT of things in my story that end up different from the real story, but I'm not going to change anything in my story so that it makes sense with Breaking Dawn. I hope that you all will still read my take on the Twilight story when the real one is already finished.**

**Enjoy chapter 4!!**

"_I am Edward Cullen," I said, "and this is my wife Bella. You are right about everything, but there is one crucial detail that you have wrong. We are, in fact, vampires."_

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 4—Explanation**

**Lestat's POV**

My eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed into slits. _How dare these two teenagers mock me! _I _am the vampire, not them! They may be supernatural, but I know a vampire when I see one._ I decided to voice these opinions out loud, but before I had even opened my mouth, the lovely Bella interjected,"Look, we didn't interrupt you to argue. You had your turn to talk; now it's your turn to listen." _Hmm, she's a feisty one. But how did she know I was about to argue?_

"We are vampires," Edward continued. "We drink blood to survive, just as you do, except our family has chosen to live off the blood of animals rather than humans. We are immortal, like you; I am 115 years old, but Bella is only 28. We have superhuman strength and speed, like you." To demonstrate this fact, Bella took off and circled the meadow three times in the amount of time it took Edward to take a breath. _He wasn't kidding, _I thought. _She might even be as fast as me._ This made me smile to myself. I was already attracted to young Bella, and the fact that her speed rivaled my own drew me to her even more. Edward continued, "Our skin is hard and heals quickly, like yours, and we can only truly die by, as you said, being reduced to ashes."

I tried again to reach into their minds with the Mind Gift, but to no avail. There was no way for me to know how much of what they were telling me was the truth, except of course for their preternatural strength and speed. Even if what Edward said was true, even if they shared all of these qualities with me, how could they still be vampires when I still had so many unanswered questions about them?

I wanted to be nearer to them. I said, "This is no way to have a conversation. May I join you in the meadow, and we can sit down and have a civilized chat? You have nothing to fear from me, my dear fascinating creatures. At least not yet."

Bella beckoned me forward. She and Edward settled onto the blanket, the same blanket on which they had been passionately embracing when I arrived, and made room for me to join them.

Bella picked up where Edward left off. "But, as you have noticed, we are very different from you. You said that you sleep in a coffin; I envy you for that, because we can't sleep." _Cannot sleep?_ I thought. _Then what do they do during the day?_ As if she knew what I was thinking, Bella said, "During the day we act like a normal part of society. The sun doesn't burn us, but we still have to stay out of direct sunlight. In the sun, our skin sparkles and throws rainbows in the air, just like a thousand tiny diamonds."

I broke out in maniacal laughter. "Sparkle?! You sparkle! Oh, that is rich! Young Bella and Master Edward, powerful beyond measure, similar to me in numerous ways, merely _sparkle_ in the sunlight!" I fell onto the ground and rolled about in my hysterical fit, blood tears streaming from my eyes. I had expected so much more from these two mysterious children—they were inhumanly beautiful, almost as fast and strong as me, and I was already so drawn to both of them. Couldn't they have come up with a better story? "If you wanted me to believe that you were some form of vampire, darling, you should have told a better lie. _Sparkling _like_ diamonds_, ha!" I finished up my bout of mania and pulled myself into a sitting position. I looked up at Bella and Edward, and began chuckling again. Oh, the looks on their faces! They were appalled, angry, and dejected, all while trying to keep from joining me in my laughter. I pulled a handkerchief out of my pocket and began dabbing at my bloodstained face. Bella, impatient to scold me for my outburst, started tapping her foot. _Really? She's tapping her foot? I thought girls only did that in movies. This day just keeps getting better and better!_

Edward was impatient as well, and asked curtly, "Are you quite finished?" _I suppose I have been a bit rude to them_, I thought. I nodded my head, hoping that I looked as apologetic as I felt. "Thank you. You don't have to believe us, but I assure you that we are telling the truth. I know that you told us the truth about your nature; please trust that we are showing you the same courtesy." _Oh, Edward, such a gentleman you are!_ And he was right. He knew, somehow he saw into my mind and knew that I told them the complete truth about me, about my nature and my history. And I knew that I could trust him. Edward and Bella Cullen were telling me the truth. They were vampires. Strange vampires that could not sleep and—I laughed inwardly—_sparkled_ in the sunlight, but vampires nonetheless. And as I pulled myself to my feet, I realized that I _wanted_ to know about them, I wanted to know the similarities and differences between us, I wanted to know Edward and Bella inside and out. I looked into Edward's topaz eyes, then into Bella's that were similarly colored but flecked with red, and willed them to continue to amaze me.

Edward turned to Bella and squeezed her hand, silently telling her to continue what she was saying before my laughter interrupted. "Okay, back to the differences between our kind and your kind," she said. "Your eyes are, while completely gorgeous, mostly normal, but our eyes reflect our eating habits. My family's eyes are gold because we drink animal blood; those of our kind who drink human blood have red eyes."

"Wait," I interrupted, "did you say_ family_? You have a _family_?" Bella answered, "Well, not an actual blood-related family. We're all vampires, made at different times and in different places, but we think of ourselves as a family."

"Carlisle is our father figure, since he was the first of our family and made the rest of us," Edward continued for Bella. "But he's our father in more ways than one. He is extremely compassionate and level-headed, and will do anything for his family. Esme is Carlisle's mate, and our mother. She loves all of us fiercely and unconditionally, and is only happy when we are happy. The 'children' "—and here he made quotation marks around the word "children" with his fingers—"of our family consist of Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, Bella, and myself. Alice and Jasper are mates, as are Rosalie and Emmett, and I was the loner of the family until I met Bella a little over ten years ago. Even though we are all paired off in mates, we share an extremely strong familial bond. All of us will do anything to help and protect our family."

I found all of this completely fascinating. Such a large group of vampires living together _like a family_ for so many years was unheard of! Although I shared the strongest of bonds with numerous other blood drinkers like myself—Louis, Marius, Armand, David, and Gabrielle, to name a few—we would all never be able to coexist under one roof for any long period of time. Vampires were independent, natural wanderers! _Maybe only those who deny their nature by drinking the blood of animals can know the joy of such strong and plentiful connections_.

"We are not connected telepathically like your kind seem to be, but some of us, like Edward, have telepathic powers," Bella continued. "Carlisle's theory is that our dominant personality trait in our human lives is amplified and enhanced in the transformation into a vampire. Some can be subtle enhancements. Emmett was physically strong as a human, so now he's a bit stronger than us other vampires. Rosalie was obstinate as a human, so now she can sometimes be…well, a complete bitch. I love her, but it's true. Other personality enhancements, like Edward's, can turn into supernatural powers. Alice can see the future, Jasper can control emotions, and I have heightened intuition." She paused for a moment, as if deciding what to say next, but started back up as if she had never stopped. "That's how I knew what you were thinking. You have put up a mental wall to keep others out of your mind, and this stops Edward from hearing word for word and seeing image for image your thoughts and feelings. My power does not depend entirely on your mind. I can't hear your exact thoughts, but I intuitively know the gist of what you are thinking. But there's still a lot I can't get to, a lot that your mind is successfully blocking."

I was stunned. This was indeed a strange species of vampire I had stumbled upon—for that must surely have been what they were, a species of vampire that was different from my own, yet similar in so many ways. They sparkled in the sun instead of being burned, but fire would still kill them. They had no Mind Gift or Fire Gift or Cloud Gift, but they had enhanced abilities that could be entirely supernatural. Seeing the future, controlling emotions, intuitively knowing anything and everything there was to know—it was all so unbelievable, yet completely truthful! So fearsome, yet so amazing!

So alluring, these two vampires were. I was almost as attracted to Edward as I was to Bella. They were both so beautiful, so pure, yet so fierce and dangerous. It was as if they were 

made of all the best parts of me, and since I loved myself, how could I not love them? Even on certain levels—and I couldn't believe I was actually thinking this—they were _better_ than me. They said that they drank the blood of animals to spare humans; was this not something that I refused to do? Yes, I hunted only the Evil Doer, those who deserved to die by my hand; but the blood of humans was so alluring, so delectable, that I could not give it up, could not save countless souls by denying myself my most selfish needs. These children—oh, but they were children in appearance only!—had so much more self-control and discipline, and such better character than I could ever hope to have. I was the Brat Prince of Darkness, a force of evil on this earth. Granted, I was a very small force of evil compared to others, but evil nonetheless. Beautiful Bella and Exquisite Edward were angels in the bodies of demons, angels who denied their own nature to save Earth's soul. Oh, all the things I could teach them about the world, about the wonders I've beheld! And they could teach me so much in return! I felt a longing, a longing so strong it rivaled my thirst for blood, to stay with these gorgeous specimens, to hold them, to talk with them, to hunt and travel and _be_ with them. I wanted to know their family, I wanted to know their secrets, I wanted to know their history, I wanted to know them as intimately as possible.

Bella must have sensed my longing for her, for them, for everything, because something changed in her. Before, she was completely centered around Edward. Her movements, her actions, her facial expressions, and most likely her thoughts, all held root in her beloved. But now, although it was still obvious that Edward was the center of her life, she began reaching out towards me. Her body leaned a bit toward me, her eyes were intent on my face, her facial expressions became more confused yet more enlightened at the same time. It seemed as if she was studying me, trying to make sense of me, and failing miserably, yet loving her failure. She was being drawn to me, pulled to me, as I was pulled to France, and as surely as I was being pulled toward her now. In and around me she saw mystery, sensuality, darkness, and she found it irresistible. How did I know this? Why, because I'm the Vampire Lestat! Of course I'm mysterious, sensual, and dark, and of course pure and innocent Bella was drawn to me! She wanted to dabble in the sinful, the passionate, the mystifying—she wanted to take a walk through the Savage Garden of the world, and she knew that I was the one to take her there! Oh, how I loved being me!

Ah, but Exquisite Edward was not untrained in the ways of the world! He had taken a walk through the Savage Garden himself, and he knew what lurked within me. He looked between Bella and I for a couple seconds, and then stared at Bella as if she were about to grow a second head! Oh, the caprices of a lover's jealousy! He touched her arm, and she quickly took her longing eyes off of me and looked at Edward. She smiled at him, for him, a radiant smile that said she was his and he was hers. The pained and horrified look was wiped clean from his face, and replaced with a smile just as loving as Bella's. He took her face ever so gently between his hands and kissed her slowly and lovingly. She kissed him right back, but my preternatural senses did not miss the look of confusion in her eyes as she fleetingly glanced at me. _Interesting_, I thought, _very interesting_.

They broke the kiss and both turned to me. Bella glanced between Edward and I and said, "Well, now what?"

"We need to know more," I said. "We are undoubtedly members of two different species of vampire. Now we need to know how it started, and how our existences have stayed secret from each other. There must be someone who knows, and I have a hunch that that someone was what pulled me here, pulled me to you."

Bella gasped and looked up. "Something's coming…out of the sky? It must be another vampire like you, Lestat, because its mind, body, and smell are completely foreign to me—just like yours were, and still are. But how is it in the sky? Unless, it—" she gasped and looked at me, "—your kind can _fly_? Why didn't you tell us this earlier?" I shrugged and said, "All vampires of my kind share many gifts, but most only come about in old age. We all have the Mind Gift from the moment we are Born to Darkness, but only very old or very powerful vampires have the Cloud Gift. Whoever is coming must be at least as old as me, but most likely older. The only reason I have the Cloud Gift is that Akasha, the first of our kind, fell in love with me and gave me much of her blood."

Just then, a tall figure in a red velvet cloak flew into our sight. I instantly knew who this vampire was, this vampire who had been the source of the sensation that drew me here. I would know that red velvet cloak anywhere! The vampire flew into the clearing and gracefully landed immediately to my right. "Lestat!" he crowed, embracing me. "It has been too long. I am glad you decided to come here, but I am sorry that my messages to you were so cryptic. I could not afford to let you know who was calling you here. I assure you that my secrecy was necessary. Ah, and I see you have already met dear young Mr. and Mrs. Cullen! How wonderful! I am sure you have spent some time getting acquainted."

Edward cut in before the man next to me could say any more. "Who are you, and how do you know about us?" He looked as if steam would pour out of his ears at any minute.

"Your anger is rightly justified. I believe that I have much explaining to do. I am Marius de Romanus, and I have been a drinker of the Blood since the times of Ancient Rome. I know who you are because I was once friends with your father Carlisle."

My jaw dropped at the same moment as Bella's and Edward's. We were completely flabbergasted. It took us a moment to recover, and then all three of our faces became mirror images of confusion, anger, and excitement. We began talking at the same time.

"Marius—" I began.

"Carlisle—" Edward said.

"Huh?" Bella asked.

"Calm down, all of you, please," Marius pleaded. "As I said, I have a lot of explaining to do. But now it is almost dawn, and Lestat and I must find a safe place to sleep, hidden from civilization and the sun's rays. We will convene here tomorrow just after sunset, and I promise that I will tell you everything I know."

Marius grasped my hand, and together we rose into the sky. He was right: we had to find a safe place to sleep before the fast-approaching dawn. Just before we left the sight of the clearing, I looked down. Edward and Bella were watching us with confused and excited faces. Oh, how I could not wait for the next night to come!


	5. Confusion

**A/N: Thanks Alyannara2763, Master of the Boot, and Freakk66 for the reviews! I know that this chapter is UBER short, but I'm going to Puerto Rico and I won't be back until next Wednesday, so I wanted to at least get **_**something**_** posted before I left. So, here's chapter 5. Enjoy!**

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_Just before we left the sight of the clearing, I looked down. Edward and Bella were watching us with confused and excited faces. Oh, how I could not wait for the next night to come!_

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 5—Confusion**

**Bella's POV**

I have no idea how long Edward and I stared at the spot in the sky where Lestat and Marius had disappeared. We were dumbstruck. What in the world had just happened to us? One minute we were just Edward and Bella, vampires reminiscing in a forest, and the next minute we were witnesses of the revelation of a great secret, face-to-face with _an entirely different species of vampire_. Hundreds of questions swam through my head. How was it that we didn't know? These were our _relatives_, for goodness' sake! How did two species of vampires even come into being? Who was this strange Marius who claimed to have the answers? How was Carlisle involved in this? How had such a huge secret as the existence of a different type of vampire been kept from both our kind and Lestat's kind for so long? What had brought about our seemingly fated meeting? Most importantly, what was going to happen now?

As my brain processed these questions, dawn broke around Edward and me. I realized that Lestat and Marius must be hidden somewhere, sleeping. The one thing I missed the most about being human was sleep. It was so amazing to me that these other vampires actually _slept_. So amazing, and so heartbreaking. To be able to escape the world for a few hours, to rest and rejuvenate and _dream_, would be bliss. Of course, it would mean less time spent with Edward, but I would end up dreaming about him and only him anyway. Edward and the rest of our family were lucky; they didn't remember enough about sleep to miss it. But it had only been ten years since I had last slept, and it was still very fresh in my mind. I missed it terribly. _Oh Lestat_, I thought, _I envy you so much. Why are the vampires of your kind able to sleep, but my kind are never able to have that kind of escape from the world?_

But the breaking dawn stirred another emotion within me: pity, commingled with happiness. While Lestat could enjoy the sleep that we so desired, we had so much that he could never have. We could watch the sunrise. I bet Lestat hasn't seen a sunrise in—how old did he say he was?—256 years. We could feel the sun's warmth on our skin. We could partake of the many delights that daytime brought and be a part of normal society. Plus, we could still roam the night like Lestat. We literally had all the time in the world at our disposal; Lestat only had all the nighttime.

Lestat. One of the questions that had been swirling in my mind came to the forefront as I thought his name: Why was I pulled to him? The entire time we had been talking in the meadow, I kept getting more and more enthralled by Lestat. He had a certain air about him that just captivated me: charm, grace, confidence (okay, okay, it was more arrogance than confidence, but still), and mystery. He had an irresistible sensuality cloaked in darkness and the unknown. But even though he was extremely dark, I could see that he had a pure soul. He was intelligent, with a thirst for knowledge and an appreciation for beauty. And he was gorgeous! I wanted to know him, know everything about him.

A wave of betrayal washed through me as I realized what I was thinking. How could I be drawn to Lestat like this when Edward was everything that I wanted and needed? It made no sense. I still loved Edward; he was still the center of my universe. But Lestat was like a large planet drifting past me, its gravity tugging me towards its orbit. It was definitely a dilemma, but I let my worries about it slip into the back of my mind.

Edward started tugging on my hand. "We should go to the rest of the family. We need to have a serious talk with them, especially Carlisle." I could sense that he was greatly disturbed by the possibility that Carlisle had kept this huge secret from him for over 100 years. I stroked his cheek to calm him down. "We can't jump to conclusions, Edward. Even if Carlisle knew about this, he probably kept it secret to protect us. He loves us." Edward nodded, and the tension in his face eased up. "Let's go," he said. We ran into the forest, hoping that our family would help us make sense of it all.


	6. Daybreak

**A/N: Many thanks to Freakk66, Master of the Boot, and Ayako-kun (hi Staci!) for your reviews, and thanks to everyone who has contributed to my story's 285 hits. I do this for you! I know that it took a while for me to get this chapter out, so I thank you for your patience!**

**Unfortunately, you will have to have more patience with me in the months to come, because I'm starting college at the end of this week. It will be a huge transition for me, and I will most likely have very little time to write. But don't fret! This story has a hold on me, and there is no way that I'll abandon it. I ask for your understanding and patience, and I promise that you will be rewarded!**

**Now, on to chapter 6! **

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_We ran into the forest, hoping that our family would help us make sense of it all._

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 6—Daybreak**

**Alice's POV**

_**12:00 AM**_

The only bad thing about living in an old, abandoned castle in the French wilderness was the lack of shopping venues…and TV with the Home Shopping Network…and internet with its thousands of online stores…and people to invite to parties…okay, I admit it, I hated living in Auvergne. I hated it with a passion. Sure, there were small shops in nearby villages, and sure, Paris was only three hours away (for a human, that is), but it was all so _inconvenient_. But I put up with it. I made a sacrifice in order to help my most favorite sister, Bella. Oh, it wasn't because of incontrollable bloodlust; her physiological aversion to blood still held after her transformation, so it only took her a month or two to get her wild side under control. No, it was for many other reasons. One, she couldn't bring herself to face Charlie and Renee yet, so we right away traveled away from Forks, Jacksonville, and the US altogether. Two, Edward wanted to show her the wonders of the world, so we came to Europe for some sightseeing. Three, we were all kinda sick of playing the human charade for a while, so we stayed away from civilization. Hence, we were living in an abandoned castle with a huge forest as our backyard. I admit, it was beautiful, and it was nice to get away, but I was having about as much fun as a fat kid on a diet.

I took solace in making new clothes for all of us rather than shopping for them. I would search through someone's closet, find a few articles of clothing that were old or untrendy, and took bits and pieces of each of them to create something altogether fabulous. At the moment, I was sitting in Bella and Edward's room, sewing together bits of a midnight blue strapless dress of Bella's, a black corset that I bought her for her honeymoon (she only wore it that once), and the light blue curtains that had been hanging in the room (sorry Esme, but the fashion world needed them). I was making her a new dress that would be classy, flirty, and trendy all at the same time, something that she could wear to celebrate her 10th vampire birthday. Of course, she would probably never wear it (I searched into the future…yep, she wouldn't wear it), but I needed to get my creative juices flowing and entertain myself. Besides, with a few alterations, it would fit me perfectly!

Just as I was about to add the finishing touches, I felt an oncoming vision tugging at the corners of my consciousness. I let out a frustrated sigh. _This whole seeing-the-future deal can be really pesky and inconvenient sometimes_, I thought. But I knew that there was no escaping it, so I let the vision wash through me.

_Bella and Edward are standing in a clearing in the middle of the forest. Across from them is a man…but not a man…what? Anyway, the mysterious figure is waiting impatiently and looking at Bella and Edward expectantly. Edward says to the man, "I am Edward Cullen, and this is my wife Bella. You are right about everything, but there is one crucial detail that you have wrong. We are, in fact, vampires."_

I was so shocked by this revelation that my own thoughts broke through the vision for an instant. They went a little something like this: _SAY WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL DOES EDWARD THINK HE'S DOING, REVEALING OUR NATURE TO A TOTAL STRANGER, AND AN OBVIOUSLY NON-HUMAN ONE AT THAT? AND…BUT…NO!_

I was baffled, to say the least.

Luckily, in the ten years that Bella had been with us, I had grown stronger in my ability so that my visions were like TiVo; I could pause, rewind, and fast-forward them in my mind (yeah, I'm _that_ awesome). So, before I drove myself to a brain aneurism, I rewound the vision to figure exactly what had moved Edward to insanity.

After a couple minutes of vision madness, I finally understood. So this Lestat character was some other form of vampire, as well as his friend Marius. Hmm, very interesting. And they both seemed like fashionistas, so I would have someone new to share my love of clothes with. The one thing I didn't get was that Marius had said he had a connection with Carlisle…meaning Carlisle would know about this other species of vampire…meaning he had been keeping a HUGE secret from us. I didn't need visions of the future to know that we would be having an extremely_ enlightening_ family discussion once Edward and Bella came home.

I looked away from my now-forgotten fashion masterpiece, which I had been staring at for several minutes. Only then did I see Jasper leaning against the doorframe. I had been so involved in my vision that I hadn't heard him. He must have felt my confusion. I stared into his eyes, wishing he had Edward's ability so I wouldn't have to figure out how to explain my vision.

"So, what's up?" he asked casually. "Peeking into how Bella's 10th birthday is going to go?"

"Not exactly," I responded, "but I have a feeling that this will be a birthday that neither she nor any of the rest of us will forget." He raised an eyebrow. "Explain?" he prompted me.

So I explained. To everyone. Except Carlisle and Esme, since they wouldn't be back from their hunting trip for a few hours…which was about the time that Edward and Bella would be home. How convenient! I figured that since Carlisle already knew about "the others," Esme was probably in on it too, so they wouldn't be missing anything. I got Jazz, Rose, and Emmett up to speed on the situation (except for the whole Carlisle-knows-everything-and-has-been-keeping-it-from-us part) to save Edward and Bella some explaining, and to just pass the time before they all got home.

Each person I told responded differently. Jasper marched into his library and started thinking deeply on the subject, Rosalie pitched a hissy-fit, and Emmett made tension-riddled jokes. Soon, however, we were all assembled by the front doors, waiting for Edward, Bella, Carlisle, and Esme to come home.

_**PRESENT**_

Bella and Edward walked in the door first. Edward opened his mouth to say something, but I yelled at him in my head, _Edward! I know…I saw a vision. I already told them everything, except the tidbit about Carlisle knowing Marius. I figured we should bring that up when Carlisle and Esme get home_. He nodded curtly, and Bella's face relaxed. She must have sensed that we already knew the story.

Edward's eyes darted towards the front door. "They're here," he said. Not five seconds later, Carlisle and Esme walked hand-in-hand through the door. Upon seeing the rest of us congregated, they stopped and exchanged wary glances. "What happened?" Esme asked. "Is everyone okay?"

"Oh, yeah, just peachy," Rosalie scoffed. "Guess who Bella and Edward met last night?"

"Carlisle," Edward ventured hesitantly. I could tell he was afraid that what he would say next would completely shatter our family's circle of trust. "Do you know someone named Marius de Romanus?"

Carlisle became as still as a statue, shock frozen all over his face. Edward sucked in a breath; he had obviously heard Carlisle's recognition of the name in his thoughts. Carlisle looked at Edward, a pleading look in his eyes. They were having a mental exchange. They stared intently at each other for a minute, and eventually Edward nodded. Carlisle let out the breath he had been unknowingly holding and visibly relaxed.

Emmett broke the silence. "So…can those of us without freaky mind-reading powers have an explanation? Do you really know this Marius guy?" Carlisle sighed. "Yes, Emmett, I do." Everyone but Carlisle, Esme, and Edward drew in a sharp breath. Rosalie glared at me. "You didn't tell us _that_ part," she spat at me. I held up my hands in defeat. "Guilty as charged."

"Wait, what else were you told? How do you even know the name Marius?" Carlisle asked. Edward and Bella proceeded to tell the main parts of the story, but super-quiet and super-fast. When they were done, Carlisle and Esme glanced at each other, and then back at all of us. 

"Children," Esme began, "You're right. Your father and I have been keeping an extremely large secret from you, and from the vampire world at large. But you must understand that it was of the utmost importance that we keep this secret. It was for our family's own protection, for your own protection." Carlisle bid us to sit at the huge dining room table that we didn't dine on. Once we were all seated, he began.

"I met Marius de Romanus when I was with Aro, Caius, and Marcus in Volterra in 1720. It was the night of the St. Marcus festival. I was walking amongst the crowds alone; all of the Volturi and the members of the Guard were in the castle, feasting. All of a sudden, in the middle of the Piazza dei Priori, I ran into a man in a velvet red cloak. I took a breath to apologize to him, but when I did, the alien scent that you described coming from Lestat filled my entire body. I must have smelled strange to him, too, because we looked at each other with the same incredulous looks on our faces. Luckily, Marius and I are very much of the same mind: curious, hungry for knowledge, eager to learn and teach. Had I run into anyone else of Marius' species, I might not have lived to tell the tale. We sat down in a secluded area and talked for hours about what each of us was. We puzzled over the reasons why we smelled so different, why Marius could not read my mind when he could read everyone else's, why I could be in direct sunlight and he could not. We even speculated about how two different species of blood drinkers came into being. After we learned all we could about each other, we knew that we had to go our separate ways and never utter a syllable about the other's existence to anyone else. Who knew what kind of havoc would be wrought if this information were to fall into the wrong hands? That night I left the Volturi and ventured out on my own; I knew that if I touched Aro, even brushed up against him accidentally, everything would be ruined. Since then, I have buried all my knowledge of Marius and his kind in the deepest corners of my mind, and, until now, I had only told one other person. Esme is my mate, and I simply could not keep it from her. We both decided to keep the information secret in order to protect our fledgling family. It has pained us immensely, but we knew it was the right thing to do. However, now that our paths have once again crossed with this other species of vampire, it seems that things are changing. I suppose, Alice, that we can expect Marius and Lestat to join us tonight?"

I had been so wrapped up in his story that it took a moment for me to realize that he was talking to me. I let slip a small "oh!" and started looking into the future. "Yep, just after sunset."

"Marius must have an extremely important reason for exposing himself and gathering with us," Carlisle mused. "I suppose we will find out tonight."

With that, the family meeting was disbanded. Carlisle excused himself and went up to his study, and Esme drove to Paris to buy replacement drapes for the ones I had stolen for Bella's dress (which was lying unfinished in her room). The six of us "children" stayed where we were, all of us dumbstruck. After a few minutes of silence, Emmett said, "So, who wants to pass the time 'til sunset playing a game?" Actually, a game sounded like a great idea. It would definitely help ease the tension of our situation. I took a quick peek into the future; oh yeah, it would be a great help. All of our hands shot into the air with an "oooh, oooh, pick me, pick me!" urgency, and we broke out laughing.

The day actually passed by pretty quickly. We played cards, tag, board games, and even had some wrestling matches. By sunset, we were taking turns jumping out of the highest window in the castle, grading each other on how many flips and such we could do. Edward was winning, but Bella was in a close second. But, no matter how hard she tried, Edward was going to win. I had already seen that Bella's last jump would be an epic fail. Edward, having read my mind, knew what to expect when Bella stepped up for her final dive. Both of us could barely contain our laughter. Luckily, Bella was concentrating more on her dive than on our snickers.

She jumped out of the window and launched into lightning-quick back flips and somersaults and triple-axels. Halfway down, in the middle of a somersault, she contorted her body so that she could look towards the western sky. Excitement, fear, and surprise all crossed her face. Her lapse in concentration only lasted a couple seconds, but it was enough; she landed on the side of her right foot, and immediately fell flat on her face. The rest of us burst out laughing, including Edward and I. It was so much funnier to watch in real life than in a vision! Amid my peals of laughter I cried out to her, "What was that?! You landed like a butterfly with sore feet!" Emmett and Jasper fell on the ground and started rolling around in their laughter. Bella looked up at us, and the extreme seriousness on her face made us all go silent. "We need to get to the clearing," she said. "They are on their way there."

_Duh Alice!_ I thought. I had been so wrapped up in watching Bella fall on her face that I had totally forgotten that Marius and Lestat would be arriving. Carlisle and Esme gathered with us, and together we all set out to the clearing. We got there at the exact time that Marius and Lestat did. Carlisle and Marius strode towards each other and embraced, while Lestat waved at Edward and winked at Bella. I gasped inwardly. _Oh no he didn't!_ Bella smiled at Lestat, but drew into Edward more. She looked up into his eyes, and they shared a chaste yet loving kiss. _That's more like it_.

The rest of us were standing around awkwardly, so I decided to break the ice. I stepped up to Lestat, stuck out my hand, and said "I'm Alice, the only member of the family with any fashion sense." Just as I predicted, everyone else started introducing themselves to Marius and Lestat.

Once everyone was acquainted, Carlisle said to Marius, "I assume, old friend, that you have some very important news. Perhaps we should move our meeting to a more comfortable place? You and Lestat are most welcome in our home."

"We would be absolutely delighted," Marius crowed. At that, we all took off back to our castle, Carlisle and Edward leading the way. _Psh_, I thought, _I should have looked into this earlier. I could've just stayed at the castle and saved myself the effort of running to the clearing and back. Plus, now my clothes are ruined. Good thing Bella isn't going to wear the dress I'm making her._

We assembled around the fireplace in comfy chairs and couches. Once we were all settled, Marius said, "Since my meeting with you almost 400 years ago, Carlisle, I have learned many things. I have kept it all secret for quite some time. But now, a force has begun to grow with the intent to completely turn the world as we know it on its head. The time has come for us to act, and the secrets that I have been holding must be made known to you. Hold on to your hats; you are in for a night of surprises."


	7. History

**A/N: GAH!! I'm SO sorry that it's taken me so long to update!! College life has been extremely busy, leaving me with little writing time. I could have cut this chapter shorter so you wouldn't have to wait so long, but this is a major chapter, and I think you deserve to know everything that it holds. Thanks to Master of the Boot, Freakk66, Rowan Rosethorne, and whoever the random person was who left the anonymous review, for the reviews and favorites! You are what keep me going! Now, without further ado, the moment you've all been waiting for: chapter 7!**

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_Once we were all settled, Marius said, "Since my meeting with you almost 400 years ago, Carlisle, I have learned many things. I have kept it all secret for quite some time. But now, a force has begun to grow with the intent to completely turn the world as we know it on its head. The time has come for us to act, and the secrets that I have been holding must be made known to you. Hold on to your hats; you are in for a night of surprises."_

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 7—History**

**No-One-In-Particular's POV**

Marius began:

"Centuries ago, when I was first made into a blood drinker, I was charged with keeping and caring for the very first of our kind, Akasha and Enkil. They had been King and Queen of ancient Egypt, selfish and empty rulers with no compassion for human life. Akasha was the driving force of the regime, always searching for the means to her own shallow ends. One of these means was through the supernatural. Now, I am sure you know that there are other supernatural forces in this world besides us. Witches, psychics, shape-shifters—yes, I know about your wolf friends. They are a very interesting species. What Akasha was interested in was spirits. She found two witch sisters who could commune with spirits, and had them forcibly brought to her feet. She used them to pose her shallow and self-serving questions to the spirits, but it did not go over very well at all. In fact, one spirit in particular, the vicious and bloodthirsty Amel, harassed the King and Queen even after the witch sisters were sent away. Amel finally got what he wanted when one night, a group of dissenters assassinated Akasha and Enkil. As Akasha's soul was rising from her body, Amel fused with it and entered her body through her wounds. His bloodthirsty characteristics were transferred to her, and she became the first vampire. Within seconds she turned to her dying husband, drank almost all of his blood, and had him drink her blood, causing him to become the second vampire. That was circa 4000 BC. About a thousand years later, they sank into a trance, practically becoming statues, and they stayed that way until 1985, when Lestat here caused Akasha to awaken, kill Enkil, and seek to create a new world order. She killed many of our kind and almost destroyed society. She was killed, however, by Maharet and Mekare, the witch sisters. Mekare ingested Akasha's heart and brain, and became the new Queen of the vampires.

"That is our history, mine and Lestat's. That is the history which Lestat published, the history which describes what we are and how we came into being. That was the only history that I believed there to be about vampires, until the fateful night in 1720 when I met you, Carlisle. I was preparing to move Akasha and Enkil to an island fortress in the Aegean Sea, and I decided to make one last visit to my homeland, Rome. It was a period of my life when I was completely alone, completely unattached to everything but Those Who Must Be Kept, so I flew across Europe at a leisurely pace, taking in a birds-eye view of the continent. I was traveling south along Italy towards Rome, when I looked down at the city below me and beheld a massive festival, what I now know was the St. Marcus festival. My curiosity got the better of me, and I inconspicuously flew down to ground level and began walking the streets. I then quite literally bumped into you, Carlisle, and, well, you know what happened the rest of that night. What you don't know is that, after our meeting, I began a quest to learn the history of _your_ kind. I dazzled and smooth-talked my way through the ranks, learning more and more from each person, until, just recently, I put together the last piece of the puzzle. This is one of the reasons why, when I found your family here, I sent a silent message to Lestat to come here, so that you all may know. I now present to you, the history of your species.

"In the early years of Akasha and Enkil's reign, Akasha became pregnant. The kingdom rejoiced, hoping for a male heir to the throne. However, it soon became apparent to both the King and the Queen that the child growing in Akasha's womb was not the seed of Enkil. It is not known who the father was, because Akasha admitted to Enkil of having slept with countless guards and servants in the palace. She claimed to have been put under a spell, and he accepted her story; yet deep down, he knew that she was at fault, that she flaunted her beauty in front of other men to satiate her selfish needs. He became extremely jealous, and demanded that when the baby was born, it would be hidden away for eternity. The world at large was told that the child had been a stillborn, and that it had caused Akasha to never be able to have children again. To make sure that she could never have another affair, Enkil had their private physician mutilate Akasha's nether region. His jealousy and her animosity towards him stayed with them until their death, but they kept the outward appearance of a loving King and Queen for the sake of their kingdom.

"Akasha's child was a girl, a daughter that Enkil named Nisfeta. Quite an ingenious name, if you ask me. 'Isfet' was the ancient Egyptian word for 'sin,' so Enkil hid the word within the child's name to represent the hidden sin that she was produced from. He also hid Nisfeta away from the world, keeping her in an underground, heavily-guarded dungeon. She was fed only enough to keep her alive, and was completely cut off from everything. She was ten years old when Akasha and Enkil became vampires. Shortly afterward, Enkil visited Nisfeta in her dungeon and made her a vampire, so that she may suffer as much as he. Other than that, nothing changed for Nisfeta. The King and Queen still kept their daughter prisoner underground. They still posted numerous guards at the only exit—except now the guards were vampires as well. They still kept Nisfeta on the verge of starvation, bringing her very few humans to drink blood from. For a century, Nisfeta stayed in her underground dungeon, completely alone.

"Or, at least, Akasha, Enkil, and the guards thought she was completely alone. But Nisfeta had a secret companion who no one else knew about. You see, Nisfeta had the same abilities as Maharet and Mekare—she could see and talk to spirits. One spirit in particular, a spirit named Howeth, was immediately drawn to her and became her only friend. Ultimately, it was Howeth's company that kept Nisfeta alive.

"Howeth was a unique spirit, because, unlike the other ethereal spirits, he appeared to be made of matter. Crystal, as a matter of fact. His skin was cold, white, and hard, and it reflected rainbows in the sunlight. His body was filled with venom that ran through him like blood, nourishing him. He was unable to sleep, and his eyes were bright red.

"The spirit world has been described as having only two kinds of spirits: good and evil. Yet, in the beginning, Howeth was neither good nor evil; he simply existed by Nisfeta's side. But as the years and decades passed, he became more and more frustrated by Nisfeta's situation. The sparse conditions made him more and more greedy and power-hungry. He wanted to get Nisfeta out of her underground cage; at first because he loved her, but soon he became so twisted and corrupt that he only wanted to break Nisfeta free so that he could use her to gain power and wealth.

"Akasha and Enkil went into their motionless trance circa 3000 BC, about a century after Nisfeta was made. One day shortly afterward, when the guards and Nisfeta were sleeping, Howeth bit into Nisfeta's skin, allowing his venom to flow into her bloodstream and infect her DNA. Just as Amel changed Akasha into a new species of being, Howeth changed Nisfeta into a new species. His spirit qualities fused with her vampire qualities. She still needed blood to survive, but it became nourishment for the venom that flowed through her veins. Her skin took on his crystalline qualities, sparkling in the sunlight rather than burning, and her eyes turned crimson. His inability to sleep also transferred over to her, since she no longer needed to escape the sun's rays.

"Howeth's venom changed her in unexpected ways as well. Since venom replaced the blood in her veins, she was no longer part of the vampire bloodline; if Akasha and Enkil were killed, she would not perish. This worked the other way, too: if she were to die, those who she made would live on, because they are no longer connected by the exchange of blood. The venom also overrode Nisfeta's mental connection to both vampires and humans, completely erasing her Mind Gift and rendering her invisible to the Mind Gifts of other vampires, including her parents.

"But although she lost her Mind Gift and the other vampiric gifts she would have in time, she gained a different kind of gift. As both a human and a vampire, Nisfeta's most dominant quality was her ability to persuade those around her. She could persuade the guards to bring her an extra meal, she could persuade Howeth to entertain her in a certain way. Of course, she could never sway Akasha and Enkil, but no one could do that. Her ability to persuade was Howeth's favorite part of her personality; it was what drew him to her in the first place. Somehow, his love for her most dominant quality became part of his venom, so that when it infected her, it captured the essence of that dominant quality and strengthened it. It manifested itself as an extrasensory ability: as a new vampire, she could get someone to do her bidding by placing thoughts, memories, motivations, and emotions in that person's mind, giving them the illusion that it was what they wanted. She could influence the most selfish person to give all their money to the poor just by placing the proper ideas and motivations in his or her head, making that person believe that he or she _wants_ to help the poor. It's quite an extraordinary gift, really, but can very easily be used for evil.

"But, I digress. The last thing that Howeth's venom did to Nisfeta was to infect her with his hunger for power. As soon as her transformation into a new species of vampire was finished, she plotted with Howeth, relishing in the fact that her parents were completely deaf to her now, completely deaf to everything she now wanted and planned on getting. Around midday, while all the guards were still asleep, Nisfeta and Howeth broke free from the underground prison and, as quickly as possible, made their way away from Egypt. Of course, once the guards woke up and alerted the King and Queen to their runaway daughter, they called on every vampire to search for her. But since Nisfeta had the advantage of traveling both day and night, they were never found. Faced with absolutely no evidence as to their daughter's whereabouts, Akasha and Enkil soon called off the search, believing Nisfeta to have gone into the sun and perished.

"In the centuries and millennia to follow, Nisfeta and Howeth concentrated on creating more _Vampirus venomus_, the name that has been given to this new species of vampire. Their only goal in doing this was to gain more and more power and wealth. They created armies of vampires who, once they were under Nisfeta's persuasive power, would do anything that Nisfeta and Howeth wanted of them. The duo's dream, of course, was to kill Akasha and Enkil, thereby killing every other _Vampirus nocturnus_ (the original species of vampire) in existence, and rule the world over the inferior humans. But they knew that they had to wait for the perfect moment to strike, so for decades and centuries they would bide their time, sending their armies out on little missions to bring more wealth or more potential vampires. Every once in a while, Nisfeta and Howeth would try their luck at destroying a few powerful vampires or a large coven. One of those targets was actually me; when I was living in Venice in 1499, a satanic coven led by Santino set fire to my home and tried to destroy me. I only recently discovered that Nisfeta was behind this attack, that she had planted the seed of Satan worship in Santino's mind, that she had given him the proper emotions and motivations to want to order his coven to rise against me. Luckily, they failed. But numerous other vampires, and humans as well, have been slaughtered under Nisfeta's command.

"For 2,000 years, Nisfeta and Howeth made vampires, killed vampires (both Nocturnals and Venoms), killed humans, and grew richer, waiting for the perfect army and the perfect age to launch their full-scale attack on the Nocturnals. Sometime circa 1000 BC (it is not exactly known when), Nisfeta and Howeth came across three men, three senators in the city of Volterra, Italy. These men were in no way related, nor were they even friends; but Nisfeta knew that they were like brothers in many different ways. They all shared the same lust for power and wealth, the same knowledge of how to manipulate society and the governmental system, and the same yearning to be something more than human, something far superior to anyone else. As soon as Nisfeta laid eyes on Aro, Caius, and Marcus, she knew that they were the beginning of the end; with them under her power, she could finally rise up against Akasha, Enkil, and every other Nocturnal vampire. She could finally be superior to everyone and everything; she could be a goddess.

"She knew all this because she knew that the regime under Aro, Caius, and Marcus would be fairly democratic (by her standards, anyway) and based on governmental rule and reasoning. This was the one path she had never gone down. In all of her failed regimes, the power came from emotion, be it through religion, suppression and fear, or instant gratification. This time around, everything would be different. And it was the perfect time for change; the age was one of reason, the men wanted power through control and order, the fledglings they would create would be all too willing to serve a higher goal of peace-keeping and reasoning. With all this in mind, she plotted with Howeth on how to create what they needed to become the most powerful beings in existence.

"Nisfeta began by using her power on the three senators, convincing them to become friends, to see each other as brothers. Once their relationships were at the perfect dynamic, she snuck into their bedchambers late one night and changed them. Once they had all been changed, she revealed herself to them, telling them about what they were, what they wanted, and what they could have. She planted the right seeds in their minds, and then gave them full authority to carry out her plans. She planned it just right so that she would have to do as little work as possible; she made sure right off the bat that the Volturi brothers, as she named them, would be able to execute everything she wanted them to. Nisfeta and Howeth sat back for the next couple millennia, watching as their grand scheme grew. The Volturi created wives for themselves, they created followers, they created rules and conventions and hierarchies. When they came across something or someone who could possibly ruin the power and order they had built for themselves, they dealt with it as was convenient. Sometimes, Nisfeta would have to step in. For example, there were times when certain vampires who held a power that Nisfeta wanted were about to do something that would threaten the Volturi. Instead of letting the Volturi annihilate them, Nisfeta would use her power to change the rebels' thoughts and motivations. Mostly, however, things ran smoothly for Nisfeta and Howeth; they had made plenty sure that the Volturi wanted everything that they themselves wanted. They simply had to wait for the opportune moment to strike their unsuspecting relatives.

"This is where I bring the story back to the present, friends, for it is in the here and now where the true danger and urgency lies. You now know how you came into being, and the cause behind all the similarities and differences between you, the Venoms, and us, the Nocturnals. You now have every tool in your arsenal that I am able to give you. I now ask you to make a choice, a choice that means life or death. The time has come for Nisfeta and Howeth to make their move, to eliminate me, Lestat, and our other Nocturnal brethren, and to subliminally control the world. I come to you, not as a member of a different species, but as your ideological brother. Will you allow Nisfeta, the Volturi, and their pawns to subjugate the entire world? Or will you stand with us against this threat to our lives, to our freedom, to the world as we know it? Will you become my brethren, Lestat's brethren, and stand up for liberty and humanity?"

He took a deep breath, looked each Cullen in the eye, and waited patiently for an answer.


	8. Shock

**A/N: Yes, it is me! I'm not dead! Oh dear, I can't begin to say how sorry I am for taking so long to update. College is extremely time-consuming, to say the least. I must also apologize for the shortness of this chapter…it's basically a filler. But it has to be written so that the story can progress. I promise that things are going to start rolling! So far, this story has been a lot of sitting and talking and thinking…but soon the action will begin! Many thanks to Master of the Boot, ****LadyPoisonHimiko, schizophrenic genius, emerald-abyss, silver eyed vampwolf, and meow114 for the reviews, alerts, and faves! And thanks to you silent readers…Vampire Legions has over 1,000 hits!!! Yays! Anyway, here's Chapter 8!**

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"_The time has come for Nisfeta and Howeth to make their move, to eliminate me, Lestat, and our other Nocturnal brethren, and to subliminally control the world. I come to you, not as a member of a different species, but as your ideological brother. Will you allow Nisfeta, the Volturi, and their pawns to subjugate the entire world? Or will you stand with us against this threat to our lives, to our freedom, to the world as we know it? Will you become my brethren, Lestat's brethren, and stand up for liberty and humanity?"_

_He took a deep breath, looked each Cullen in the eye, and waited patiently for an answer._

**Vampire Legions**

**Chapter 8—Shock**

**Lestat's POV**

I must say, it was extremely interesting to learn the origins of our new "vampire" friends. I put quotation marks around "vampires", because it was obvious from Marius' story that we, not they, were the true vampires. The Cullens and their Venom brethren were mere vampire knock-offs; wannabe's, if you will. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think the Cullens were beneath me in any way; I just enjoyed knowing that I was a vampire original. But, I digress.

I looked around the room, eyeing each Cullen in turn. Of course, they were all completely frozen in shock. Who wouldn't be? Well, I wasn't, but that was because most of what Marius had divulged did not relate to me personally. Except for that last bit about Miss-Akasha-Incarnate wanting to blitzkrieg and exterminate us Nocturnals. That was a bit troublesome. But, as I said, she was essentially Akasha in Venom form—she wanted power, and she wanted to destroy everyone who would stand in her way so she could achieve it. And had I not already defeated Akasha? Nisfeta would barely be a problem. I could probably fight her, kill her, kill her henchmen, and still have time to tromp about Paris or New York before sunrise.

Apparently Marius heard my boastful thoughts. I hadn't let my mental guard down, but he was far older than me and a bit more powerful, so it wasn't a match for him. He threw me a reproachful look, and projected his thoughts into my mind: _Lestat, do NOT underestimate the power that Nisfeta and Howeth hold. They have the entire Volturi army under their control. I know that you know nothing about the Volturi, but I promise you, they are no picnic. Besides, just think about what her supernatural ability can do. It would be no trouble for her at all to sway the entirety of the Venom race to her side, and probably many younger and weaker Nocturnals. Not to mention humans—her hands are controlling practically a majority of the main international governments. She is a legitimate threat. She CAN completely destroy our species, and she WILL if you continue to be wrapped-up in your ego. I love you dearly, Lestat, but you need to come off of your high horse and realize that you may not survive on this earth much longer._

Now I was in shock as well. I hadn't really thought about the extent of her preternatural power. Of course she wouldn't be able to mess with my head or the rest of the Coven of the Articulate, but the younglings—of which there weren't many left—could be easily swayed. _Wait_, I thought. I backtracked. _There aren't many younglings left. The entire Nocturnal race is limited to the Coven of the Articulate, a few old nomads who keep to themselves, and a few younglings. Akasha had destroyed most of us. Our numbers are extremely limited. Nisfeta has whole armies on her side. Entire vampire legions. _I realized with a jolt that, if we didn't play our cards right, we could end up royally screwed. I looked at the Cullens, silently pleading with them to join our side, the _right_ side, the _best_ side.

Carlisle, who was the leader from what I could see, was staring intently at young Edward, who would nod or shake his head every once in a while. They were having a silent conversation. Carlisle's mate was holding onto one of his hands for dear life. The burly one—Emmett?—looked smug, the way I had felt a few seconds ago. His blonde mate was engrossed in her own legs. The short one with spiky hair was staring at the ceiling with a blank look on her face, and her mate was staring intently at her. My eyes landed upon Miss Bella last, and I was surprised to see that she was staring at me. _Well, who wouldn't?_ But as soon as she caught my eye, she looked at Edward, who looked back at her and then gave one final nod to Carlisle.

Carlisle spoke, "As drinkers of animal blood, my family and I have maintained a link with humanity that most of our kind have lost. Rather than thirst for power and wealth, we strive for love and knowledge. We do not relish in taking life or in exerting dominance over the lives of others, and we feel that those who do should be stopped. We understand that Nisfeta is a true threat, not just to you or to us, but to freedom. Your friendship is dear to us, Marius, but there is more at stake here than just the loss of our friendship. My family and I cannot just stand by while a genocide is carried out, whether it be a genocide of humans, a genocide of us, or a genocide of you. It is, then, not with a sense of bloodthirsty excitement but rather with a sense of duty and justice, that we agree to fight with you against Nisfeta."

Marius heaved a sigh. "Thank you, my dear Carlisle. I know the sacrifice you are making, and our entire race is in your debt." They both stood up and embraced. I smiled at the seated Cullens, my new friends. I was surprised to find that I looked forward to getting to know these strange vampires, especially Miss Bella and young Edward. I tried once more to look into their minds, but, of course, I heard nothing.

Marius turned to me. "Come now, Lestat, we must find ourselves a resting place for the daylight hours." I groaned internally. This whole bursting-into-oblivion-in-direct-sunlight thing could really be a nuisance. I gave one final wave to the Cullen clan, and rose into the near-dawn with Marius.

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**Second A/N: I really don't like when authors beg for reviews, but this must be said. Part of the reason why it took me so long to write this (VERY short) chapter is that I was extremely un-motivated. The last chapter only got 2 reviews. Now, I really appreciate everyone who alerts and faves this story, and seeing that my story has 1,011 hits is breathtakingly wonderful, but nothing fuels my motivation to write more than reviews. Knowing exactly what people liked/disliked about a chapter or about the story in general helps me formulate a path that this story will progress down. It is so hard to write a chapter when I have no clue what direction my readers would most like to see it take. I mean, of course this is my story, and I know most of what is going to happen, but there are so many little intricacies and details that I make up on the spot as I'm writing. Without reviews, without constructive criticism and a little praise, I get completely stuck. Not only do I not feel motivated to write, but I am lost on how to proceed in the chapter. So please, review. I am writing this story for you, so I need to know that you're listening. I promise this is the one and only time I'll bother you about reviewing. **

**Phew, that A/N was longer than I anticipated. Sorry. Laters!**


	9. Author's Note

Hey guys. I'm very sorry to say that I'm going to have to put this story on a (most likely) permanent hiatus. College takes up all of my time, and then some, and it's not fair for me to continue this story when the time between updates is only going to get longer and longer. Besides, I'm not a writer…I'm a computer scientist, but that's not the point. I see in my head what I want to happen in the story: more Bella/Lestat/Edward drama (don't worry, Edward wins out in the end), the gathering of all the other vampires (the good ones, anyway), a reconciliation between Bella and Jacob (he hasn't imprinted, just healed naturally), and finally an all-out war between our good guys and the bad guys, mainly the Volturi and other vampires of both species under the direction of Nisfeta (people die, but you can probably guess who wins in the end). The thing is, I just don't have the patience to completely flush out the story…I just want to get to the fighting. And I know it wouldn't be fair to you for me to just skip to the fighting and be done with it.

I think the main reason why I started this story was because I was a long-time fan of Anne Rice, and I had just recently fallen in love with Twilight, and I wanted to play with how the two worlds could be reconciled. I was super excited to write chapter 7 (the history of how the two species came into being), but as soon as that was out there I had no more motivation. I had figured out how the two worlds could exist in one, so I had achieved what I wanted from the story. It's not fair for me to string you along with a half-hearted attempt at a story I've lost interest in.

Thank you to all of my readers: those who have been with me since the beginning, and those who are just now discovering this story. You're all awesome! Thanks especially to those who have faved/alerted this story…I'm glad that what little I put up here caught your attention. And finally, super uber thanks to my reviewers, who gave me motivation from chapter to chapter. Thanks for your input, your interest, and your time.

I've probably said this way too much already, but thank you so much!!

Love,

Electrogoth


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